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Paychecks, taxes and credit: High school people & places

Personal finance: paychecks, taxes, credit and borrowing. A free High school lesson plan with a hook, practice that links to free activities, and an exit ticket. Copy it and make it yours.

Lesson plan

Goal

  • Students work toward: personal finance: paychecks, taxes, credit and borrowing.

Hook (5 min)

  • Ask the class: Why is a first paycheck smaller than the pay?
  • Take two or three answers and write them where everyone can see them.

Teach (15 min)

  • Say the big idea in one plain sentence: paychecks, taxes and credit.
  • Show one example, then one that is not an example, and ask how the two differ.
  • Have students tell a partner or a small group the idea in their own words.

Practise (20 min)

  • Choose one for the whole class or let groups pick:
  • Learn: Your Paycheck: Gross and Net (https://peabody.kids/world/money/money-paycheck-gross-net)
  • Learn: Borrowing and Credit Scores (https://peabody.kids/world/money/money-borrowing-credit-scores)
  • Read: How Does a Paycheck Work? (https://peabody.kids/library/how-does-a-paycheck-work)
  • Read: The Federal Tax System (https://peabody.kids/library/how-the-federal-tax-system-is-built)
  • Read: How Credit Scores Are Built (https://peabody.kids/library/how-credit-scores-are-built)

Exit ticket (5 min)

  • On a slip or aloud: one thing I learned about paychecks, taxes and credit, and one question I still have.
  • Sort the slips into: got it, nearly, not yet. Start tomorrow with the last pile.

Written by Peabody from its own skill pages. Free, no ads, no sign-in. Children can practise this on Peabody. More from teachers: teacher-shared resources.